LA CROSSE, Wis. – For the first time since 2009 and the seventh time in program history, the Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team is heading to the Elite 8. The No. 17 Bears came away with a 59-56 win over No. 22 Wisconsin Lutheran in the Sweet 16 on Friday evening. They advance to the national quarterfinal on Saturday at 7 p.m. against the winner of UW-La Crosse and Illinois Wesleyan.

Senior Hayden Doyle led all scorers with 16 points, five rebounds, and four assists. First-year Connor May netted 11 points and grabbed four boards, while senior Drake Kindsvater scored 10 points and pulled down six rebounds.

As a team, the Bears shot an impressive 7-for-12 (58.3%) from 3-point range in the first half.

WashU opened with a 3-pointer from Doyle less than 20 seconds in. Wisconsin Lutheran's Ryan Broeckel tied it with a 3-pointer a minute later. Junior Will Grudzinski put in a fast break layup, but the Warriors tied things at 5-5 with 17:15 on the clock.

The Warriors took their first lead of the game at 15:52 on a jumper from Grayson Goetz. Grudzinski netted a shot from distance to put WashU ahead 11-9, but WLC quickly knotted the score again on a layup from AJ Vos.

At 14:50, sophomore Ryan Cohen hit a 3-pointer and May put in a jumper at 12:17 to give the Bears a five-point, 16-11 lead. The Warriors responded with back-to-back 3-pointers to take a 17-16 lead midway through the first half.

The Bears followed with 12 unanswered points, starting with a 3-pointer from May. Sophomore George Gale put in a fast break layup, Doyle drilled a shot from distance, and Kindsvater grabbed a defensive rebound, taking it to the other end for a fast break layup. Doyle closed out the run with a jumper to put WashU up 28-17 with 6:35 on the clock.

WLC's Jacob Stoltz hit a 3-pointer out of a timeout, but Kindsvater slammed one home on the next possession to get back to a double-digit Bears' lead. The Warriors followed with a pair of buckets to close the gap to six points, 30-24, with 4:15 remaining.

With 1:54 on the clock, Doyle hit a 3-pointer on a pass from Gale for the final shot of the half, sending the Bears into halftime with a 35-26 lead.
Kindsvater hit the first shot of the second half to put the Bears up 37-26. In the next four minutes, the Warriors brought the deficit down to five points, 39-34, with 14:53 remaining.

WashU continued to maintain a several-point lead until the final nine minutes of the game. A 3-pointer from Goetz at 9:01 cut it to four points. Following a layup from Davis, WLC's Jacob Hefle hit two big 3-pointers to tie things up at 47 apiece with 6:47 remaining. After a Bears' timeout, Goetz hit a jumper to put the Warriors ahead for the first time since midway through the first half.

A pair of free throws from junior Yogi Oliff tied the game again at 49-49. A block from Kindsvater prompted a fast break layup by Oliff to put the Bears ahead again. A steal by Doyle and a layup from Davis gave WashU a 53-49 lead with 2:05 on the clock.

With the Bears up four points, a foul on a 3-pointer sent WLC's Stoltz to the line, where he hit all three free throws to make it a one-point, 57-56 game with 13 seconds remaining.

With nine seconds on the clock, May was fouled following an in-bounds play and converted both free throws to give WashU the three-point win.

Overall, WashU shot 23-for-50 (46%) and edged WLC 32-30 on the boards.